Tri-Town takes heat after firing SouthField developer

WEYMOUTH – The agency that oversees SouthField is taking flak from lawmakers for its decision to fire the faltering project’s master developer.

On Tuesday, South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp. formally notified the developer, Starwood Land Ventures, that it had been terminated from its role as the master developer, in charge of lining up deals and selling pieces of land to home and commercial builders. The firing came after a dispute over an unpaid $375,600 bill.

Starwood remains the largest landowner at SouthField.

Two South Shore lawmakers were quick to criticize the firing as an attempt by Tri-Town to hold up Starwood’s proposal for sweeping changes to the project, including slashing Tri-Town’s authority.

“It’s a last-ditch effort to slow the process down and throw a monkey wrench into the process,” House Majority Leader Ronald Mariano, D-Quincy, said. “They seem to be in kind of a panic to hold on.”

State Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth, also criticized Tri-Town.

“The time for games and delay are over,” he said in a statement. “We need to do everything we can over the next month to pass legislation that replaces and improves the management structure for the redevelopment of SouthField.”

Tri-Town CEO Kevin Donovan said the agency had no choice but to fire Starwood because the company did not pay its bill.

“We have a job to do and the law is very clear,” he said. “We have to act on what the law tells us to do.”

With progress at SouthField having ground to a near-halt, both sides have blamed each other.

Tri-Town’s board of directors voted 4-1 Monday to fire Starwood over the unpaid bill – $375,600 that is to go to the state for building the Delahunt Parkway at SouthField.

Starwood says the bill isn’t due until a year from now.

The state Executive Office of Administration and Finance said the bill is not due until June 30, 2015, but Donovan said the state Department of Revenue wanted it paid sooner.

The department was not able to respond to a request for clarification on the due date by the end of the day Tuesday.

Starwood wants the Legislature to approve the proposed changes by the July 31 end of its formal session. The changes include shifting authority from Tri-Town to Weymouth, Abington and Rockland to provide public services to their respective sections of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station. Each town would also be able to collect property taxes on its section.